Annika is 3 years old and has been sounding out the alphabet letters for a long time now. So as a mother, I have anxiously tried to get her to read. HOWEVER, if you know Annika, you know that she is a girl who is very independent. She has her own time-table and schedule for things. (Hmmm.... I have no idea where she gets this from. Do you, Mom?) I promise not to go on a long tangent about this, but I swear my Mom is laughing right now and saying, "Just you wait when she is a teenager". Maybe it is payback for all the attitude I gave my parents when growing up.
Anyway, back to my story ... The past few days Annika has been very self-motivated to read. It's been awesome. She is sounding out the words of books, cereal boxes, outdoor signs, etc. It's exciting to hear her try and I love that she gets excited about it. "I-K-E-A. Mom, that says, IKEA!" Today she was sounding out "The Mother of all Atlases" (our Atlas book subtitle). I was trying to explain to her the sound that T-H make when together (for the millionth time in the past few days). Annika was refusing to listen. I was getting annoyed as she repeated the sounds T-H separately. And you can tell she was getting annoyed with me as I was lecturing her. Andy just stayed silent, which is what I should have done in the first place. "Annika, I am trying to teach you ... ," I finally say. She stood up facing me, clearly upset, "No! You don't know what you are talking about! In school my teachers taught me this way!" All I could do at this point was laugh inside. Annika is more like me than I realize. I immediately came to the conclusion that she will learn this rule better from someone else, like her teachers, not her mother. So for now, she sounds out each letter, no exceptions. I am not worried. I know she will learn it when she is ready. Do you have a child like this? If you have any advice, let me know. I am willing to listen.
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